NFL Re-alignment - Sorry East Bay'ers

[Dan Kelly]

It looks like San Antonio is going to get the Raiders. I think an NFL team to San Antonio is long overdue, and that the league should use this opportunity to re-align, which is also long overdue. And the NFL should use the opportunity to get Dallas out of the NFC East, which never made sense - and create natural geographic divisions. I remember when the Browns, Steelers, and Colts were paid to move into the AFC from the old NFL - everyone, at least in the Cleveland of my teenage years, thought it was the end of football. It is all about business.

here's three ideas, anyone have anything better......

______	______	______	______	______	______	______	______
Balt	Char	Ind	Minn	J'ville	Dal	Tenn	Chargers
NE	Was	Pitt	GB	Atl	SA	Az	LA Rams
Jets	Phi	Cle	Det	TB	Hou	KC	SF
Buff	Giants	Cinn	Chi	Mia	NO	Den	Sea
______	______	______	______	______	______	______	______
Balt	Char	Tenn	Ind	J'ville	Dal	Minn	Chargers
NE	Was	Pitt	GB	Atl	SA	Az	LA Rams
Jets	Phi	Cle	Det	TB	Hou	KC	SF
Buff	Giants	Cinn	Chi	Mia	NO	Den	Sea
______	______	______	______	______	______	______	______
Giants	Balt	Ind	Minn	J'ville	Tenn	Dal	Chargers
NE	Char	Pitt	GB	Atl	SA	Az	LA Rams
Jets	Was	Cle	Det	TB	Hou	KC	SF
Buff	Phi	Cinn	Chi	Mia	NO	Den	Sea
______	______	______	______	______	______	______	______

BoL

[blackHIPPY]

shit looks gross
nfc east is fine as it is

[Jeffie]

As a Miami fan I would love that division.

[Grits n' Gravy]

Don't quit your day job.

[slacker00]

The end game is to get rid of divisions, sorta like the NBA. If they do another realignment, it'll have less divisions.

[Monitor-Tan]

Don't quit your day job.

[BigdaddyQH]

You have a better chance at winning the lottery than this abomination.

[USCPHILLYGUY]

As a Miami fan I would love that division.

3-13 wins that division every year

[swordsandtequila]

Get rid of divisions. Two conferences, 16 teams each. Play everyone in your conference, alternating home and away. Extra game against team from other conference that finished in the same position the prior year (NFC 5th place vs AFC 5th place, etc.), similar to how the extra games are handled now. Balanced schedule, everybody plays each other, top 6 from each conf. makes the playoffs, same as now. Best way to determine the best teams. A 10-6 team should never have to play on the road against an 8-8 team.

Divisions were formed to save money on transportation costs for the owners; creating rivalries was more a selling point to the fans. Money's not the issue now. But the league will never do it, makes too much sense. They'll have to convene 5 committees and spend 10 years studying the issue before thinking about making a change. "The NFL, where common sense goes to die."

[Booya711]

San Antonio is 90% Mexican so Raiders should be a perfect fit

[Dan Kelly]

The end game is to get rid of divisions, sorta like the NBA. If they do another realignment, it'll have less divisions.

You are probably correct - that way they can make big bucks from expansion. With divisions they can't make the changes needed for expansion. I know they want teams in Mexico City, Toronto, Vancouver, etc....

[DrunkHorseplayer]

The NFL should never break up the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry.

[VeggieDog]

Simplemente ganar , Baby!</pre>

[swordsandtequila]

The NFL should never break up the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry.

Those "rivalries" only matter when the teams are good; when they suck nobody gives a damn. The Redskin/Cowboy games are nothing like they were in the 70's/80's. Imo.

[sweethook]

looks dam good to me

[Jeffie]

3-13 wins that division every year

quite possibly, and it still wouldn't be the worst division in the league.

[slacker00]

Get rid of divisions. Two conferences, 16 teams each. Play everyone in your conference, alternating home and away. Extra game against team from other conference that finished in the same position the prior year (NFC 5th place vs AFC 5th place, etc.), similar to how the extra games are handled now. Balanced schedule, everybody plays each other, top 6 from each conf. makes the playoffs, same as now. Best way to determine the best teams. A 10-6 team should never have to play on the road against an 8-8 team.

Divisions were formed to save money on transportation costs for the owners; creating rivalries was more a selling point to the fans. Money's not the issue now. But the league will never do it, makes too much sense. They'll have to convene 5 committees and spend 10 years studying the issue before thinking about making a change. "The NFL, where common sense goes to die."

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe realignment into two conferences "NorthEast" and "SouthWest":

NorthEast: MIN, GB, CHI, DET, CIN, CLE, PIT, BAL, BUF, NYJ, NE, NYG, PHI, WAS, CAR, IND
SouthWest: MIA, JAX, TB, ATL, TEN, NO, HOU, DAL, KC, DEN, OAK, SD, AZ, STL, SEA, SF

Also I'd say expand the playoffs to 8 teams per conference, getting rid of the lame playoff byes.

[Sledge187]

I would love for the Cowboys to be in the same division as the Texans but it will never happen. The long storied tradition of the NFC East rivals will win out. Plus Cowboy/Giants games are always some of the highest rated games of the season. Plus local rivalry games have been known to be very violent. Cowboy/Texans, 49ers/Raiders have had some bad stuff happen in the stands during those games.

[Killer_Demo]

Get off our cokk. Jerry jones and texans owner would never allow it. Keep Dreaming queers

[daneblazer]

Need a gay division

san francisco
los Angeles
green bay
dallas

[slacker00]

Get rid of divisions. Two conferences, 16 teams each. Play everyone in your conference, alternating home and away. Extra game against team from other conference that finished in the same position the prior year (NFC 5th place vs AFC 5th place, etc.), similar to how the extra games are handled now. Balanced schedule, everybody plays each other, top 6 from each conf. makes the playoffs, same as now. Best way to determine the best teams. A 10-6 team should never have to play on the road against an 8-8 team.

Divisions were formed to save money on transportation costs for the owners; creating rivalries was more a selling point to the fans. Money's not the issue now. But the league will never do it, makes too much sense. They'll have to convene 5 committees and spend 10 years studying the issue before thinking about making a change. "The NFL, where common sense goes to die."

I was curious how this year's bracket might have looked if we ignored divisions and took 8 teams for each conference:

NFC:
1: Carolina Panthers
8: Saint Louis Rams

4: Green Bay Packers
5: Seattle Seahawks

3: Minnesota Vikings
6: Washington Redskins

2: Arizona Cardinals
7: Atlanta Falcons

AFC:
1: Denver Broncos
8: Buffalo Bills

4: Kansas City Chiefs
5: Pittsburgh Steelers

3: Cincinnati Bengals
6: New York Jets

2: New England Patriots
7: Houston Texans



I know the downside is letting in 7-9 Rams, but I'd still love to see them play @Panthers instead of a bye.

[klemopixx]

San Antonio is not getting an NFL franchise! Not a big enough market, never will sell out unless they build a 40,000 seat stadium. And with the price of tickets? Just not happening. The NFL is slowly pricing itself out of smaller markets. All pro sports are in trouble really. Why do you think MLB started building smaller stadiums over a decade ago? They saw this coming. As long as TV money is rolling in they will make money. No one cares if they price fans right out of the stadiums.

[daneblazer]

How long before some team is moved to London

[DrunkHorseplayer]

Those "rivalries" only matter when the teams are good; when they suck nobody gives a damn. The Redskin/Cowboy games are nothing like they were in the 70's/80's. Imo.

No doubt it was better back in the day but I'm a die-hard Redskins fan and the Cowboys games are huge regardless of record; the victory in Dallas last year saved a 4-12 season.

[swordsandtequila]

I was curious how this year's bracket might have looked if we ignored divisions and took 8 teams for each conference:

NFC:
1: Carolina Panthers
8: Saint Louis Rams

4: Green Bay Packers
5: Seattle Seahawks

3: Minnesota Vikings
6: Washington Redskins

2: Arizona Cardinals
7: Atlanta Falcons

AFC:
1: Denver Broncos
8: Buffalo Bills

4: Kansas City Chiefs
5: Pittsburgh Steelers

3: Cincinnati Bengals
6: New York Jets

2: New England Patriots
7: Houston Texans



I know the downside is letting in 7-9 Rams, but I'd still love to see them play @Panthers instead of a bye.

I like the present format, 6 teams each conference. Any more dilutes the field. Having a first round bye for top 2 creates extra incentive to win out. Imo.

San Antonio is not getting an NFL franchise! Not a big enough market, never will sell out unless they build a 40,000 seat stadium. And with the price of tickets? Just not happening. The NFL is slowly pricing itself out of smaller markets. All pro sports are in trouble really. Why do you think MLB started building smaller stadiums over a decade ago? They saw this coming. As long as TV money is rolling in they will make money. No one cares if they price fans right out of the stadiums.

I get what you're saying, but the fact is every team in the league would make money if the stadiums were empty. Television empties the vault when it comes to NFL broadcast rights. Money from tickets, parking, suites, concessions, etc. is just icing on an already very rich cake. It's laughable when any owner cries poor.

[swordsandtequila]

No doubt it was better back in the day but I'm a die-hard Redskins fan and the Cowboys games are huge regardless of record; the victory in Dallas last year saved a 4-12 season.

Trust me, I understand. I grew up a Redskin fan. Was different when the same players were on a team year after year; free agency changed that. In the format I proposed everybody plays everybody in their respective conferences, so no rivalries are lost. The only change being 1 game versus 2, alternating home and away from year to year. But you don't have to worry, it will be a cold day in hell before that happens.

[GzaTheGenius]

Yeah cool, end decade old rivalries

Makes sense

[slacker00]

I like the present format, 6 teams each conference. Any more dilutes the field. Having a first round bye for top 2 creates extra incentive to win out. Imo.

I guess I can sorta see that, maybe HOU didn't deserve a bid which they wouldn't have gotten with divisions removed.

I don't think it waters anything down, just the opposite, it actually makes more games relevant. With a deeper playoff chase in the regular season, most teams be alive well into December. Currently, half of the games in the last few weeks of the regular season are pseudo-preseason type of games with interim coaches and most teams mathematically eliminated weeks earlier.

Regarding incentive. Home field and seeding should be plenty of incentive.